Screw holding attachment for screw drivers



March 31, 1953 R. J. MAHAFFEY 2,633,168

SCREW HOLDING ATTACHMENT FOR SCREW DRIVERS Filed Feb. 18, 1949 Inventor Attorney Patented Mar; 31, 19531 UNITED STATES PA-TENT QFF ICE SdREW EOLDING ATTACHMENT FOB SCREW p Robert J Mummy, Texarkana, Tex-. g shes-non February 18, 1943,1SerialNoQ-7 198 1 .1 t 5 V "fflhe present invention relates to automatic screw melding screwdriver and it consists in the combinations, and arrangements of parts herein described and claimed. It is an object of the mesent invention to provide a screwdriver of conventional character having a simple attachment therefor which provides means for holding a screw thereon.

Another object of'the invention is the provision of a device of the character set forth having means for automatically grasping and retaining a screw when the same is removed by a screwdriver utilizing the present invention.

Another. object of the invention is the provision of simple and efiective means for attaching a screw holder to a screwdriver.

Other and further objects of the invention will become apparent from a reading of the following specification taken in conjunction with the drawing, in which:

Figure 1" is a side elevational view of an embodiment of the invention,

Figure 2; is a fragmentary elevational view, partly in section, showing the device in engagement with a fully embedded screw,

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing the devicein engagement with a screw which is only partially engaged in a wall or the like,

Figure 4;. is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 44 of Figure 1,

Figure 5 .'is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 5- -5 of Figure 1, and

Figure dis a fragmentary perspective view of a blank of Imaterialutilized in the invention.

f Generally; therevis provided an attachment for a conventional screwdriver which is formed of a single blank of material adapted to be bent into substantially cylindrical shape and which engages over a washer which is pressed into position upon the shank of a screwdriver. The cylindrical member isprovided with a plurality of fingers which are adapted to engage the head of a screw and the cylindrical member is reciprocally movable upon the screwdriver and is urged toward the blade by means of a coil spring bearing against the washer and aseries of inwardly directed detents formed integrally with the cylindrical member. The device is particularly useful in securing and retaining a screw upon the blade of a screwdriver when a screw is removed from an imbedded position. The cylindrical member referred to is'formed of spring metal thereby providing resilience for the screw head-engaging fingers.

.body I4 and a series of screw engaging fingers I 5.

The blank is rolled or bent into a substantially cylindrical formation to encompass the washer I3 in such manner that the fingers I5 extend'outwardly to completely surround the blade I2. 'Ihe fingers are then bent inwardly, as indicated at IE, to provide a better grip for engaging a screw I'I.

At the'point of juncture between the fingers I5 and the body I4 a series of detents I8 are bent inwardly to provide one abutment for a coil spring l9 which surrounds the shank I l and which has its other end in contact with the washer I3. The inner end of the body I 4 is provided with a series of inwardly extending integrally formed detents 20 which engage with the washer [3 when the body I4 is extended to its outermost position.

In operation, it will be apparent that when it is desired to insert a screw into, for example a board 2| or the like, it is only necessary to place the screw I! in contact with the blade l2 in the conventional manner, the fingers I5 yielding during this operation and encompassing the screw head when the screw has been seated with the blade I2. Thereafter the screw may be fully engaged with the board 2| by turning the handle II in the customary manner, the portion I 6 of the fingers l5 automatically moving outwardly of the screw head when they engage with the wall 2I and are forced outwardly by the head of the screw against their inherent springiness. When it is desired to remove a completely embedded screw, the screwdriver is again used in the conventional manner and as soon as the handle l0 and consequently the shank and blade II and I2 are turned a sufficient number of times the head will protrude from the surface of the board and the fingers I5 will cause the portions I6 thereof to engage the head of the screw to auto- 7 matically retain the same in contact with the blade I2 without any outside intervention such as,'for example, the use of the operators fingers. It will be seen that the spring I9 acts to retain the fingers IS in a forward position, that is to say in a position where the fingers I5 and their inturned portions l6 fuly encompass the blade I2. However, as a screw is forced into a board 2!, for example, it will be seen that the entire cylindrical member including the body I 4 and the fingers l5 will be moved inwardly of the shank II to allow the blade l2 to continue in contact with the head of the screw as will be more clearly illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawing.

While but one form of the invention has been shown and described herein, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that many minor modifications of the invention may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention 0 the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A device of the character described comprising,

in combination, a screwdriver having a handle,

a shank and a blade, a collar affixed to the shankadjacent the blade, a cylindrical body surrounding the shank and co11ar,a series of spaced screw-gripping fingers formed integrally with the I body and extending in the direction of the blade, a series of inwardly extending detents formed integrally with the body at the point of juncture between the body and fingers, each of said detentsb'eing positioned between a pair of adjacent fingers, a coil spring between the shank and the body and having one end abutting the detents and its other end abutting the collar, and a series of inwardly directed detents formed integrally with the body at its free end and positioned between the handle and the collar, said cylindrical body, both series of detents and fingers all being formed of a single piece of fiat spring metal.

QP B'Q namesake-CITED The following references are of record in the fil ithis patent;

UNITED STATES PATENTS 29,395 I Great Britain 1910 

